A few months ago, I attended a one-day seminar on revision. The lecturer started off by asking the audience to describe “revision” in one word. Everyone laughed when somebody said, “Hell.” Except me. I know not everyone out there shares…
I was sitting on a bare mattress thinking about Oreos when the call came in. “Oh hai,” the agent dude said. “I’d like to represent you.” “Cool,” I said back. “Thanks for that.” And then we pretty much hung up…
Whenever the topic of rewriting comes up, it seems to always be met with a communal groan and mumblings of, “Oh, god.” You know the feeling I’m talking about. You just finished a draft of your novel. You’ve spent months…
There is nothing I detest more than tooting my own horn. Blame it on my ancestors, who would rather die than be caught being so jack-all-full-of-yourself as to sit down across from an agent to sell your work. The work, I…
Think of your favorite movie. Perhaps it is hard for you to narrow down the list. But chances are when you try to think of the best film you’ve ever seen in your life, a few things happen. You remember…
My high school best friend, Jen, and I were discussing books recently. She started telling me, with great enthusiasm, about a novel she had just read that she thought I would like. But she stopped mid-sentence and said, “Oh, never…